October 18, 2007

Racism Among Some Indian Cricket Fans

Link: BBC NEWS | South Asia | Indian fans face racism charges.

Four Indian cricket fans have been charged for allegedly racially abusing Australian cricketer Andrew Symonds by making monkey gestures, police say. The four fans were evicted from a one-day international match in Mumbai (Bombay) on Wednesday.

Symonds is the only mixed race player in the Australian side, having made his international debut in 1998.

He frequently clashed with Indian players during the one-day series, which Australia won 4-2.

Cricket officials say that photographs of fans making offensive gestures to Symonds as he came in to bat have been handed over to police.

Police say that the four fans, including a woman, have been charged with harassment and have now been released on bail to appear in court at a later date.

The BBC's Sanjoy Majumder in Delhi says that the gestures were made even as an anti-racism message flashed on a big screen.

Posted by Anupam Chander on October 18, 2007 at 09:20 AM in Globalization | Permalink